Using a virtual environment to replace physical items

Abstract

The following relates generally to assisting with replacement of a physical item. In some embodiments, one or more processors: receive an indication of an insurance claim including an indication of a physical item to be replaced; determine a set of potential replacement items for the physical item to be replaced; retrieve virtual data of the set of potential replacement items; and present, in a virtual environment, the set of potential replacement items to a user.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method for assisting with replacement of a physical item, comprising:
 receiving, via one or more processors, an indication of an insurance claim, wherein the indication of the insurance claim: (i) includes an indication of a physical item to be replaced, and (ii) arises from a virtual environment;   determining, via the one or more processors, a set of potential replacement items for the physical item to be replaced;   retrieving, via the one or more processors, virtual data of the set of potential replacement items; and   presenting, via the one or more processors, in the virtual environment, and based upon the retrieved virtual data of the set of potential replacement items, the set of potential replacement items to a user.   
     
     
         2 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the physical item to be replaced comprises a personal article, or a vehicle. 
     
     
         3 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the physical item comprises a furniture item, and   determining the set of potential replacement items comprises:
 determining, via the one or more processors, the set of potential replacement items based upon a type of the furniture item, a size of the furniture item, and/or an optional feature of the furniture item. 
   
     
     
         4 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the physical item comprises an electronic item, and   determining the set of potential replacement items comprises:
 determining, via the one or more processors, the set of potential replacement items based upon a type of the electronic item, a size of the electronic item, and/or a color of the electronic item. 
   
     
     
         5 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the physical item comprises a vehicle, and   determining the set of potential replacement items comprises:
 determining, via the one or more processors, the set of potential replacement items based upon a type of the vehicle, a size of the vehicle, a color of the vehicle, a year of the vehicle, a make of the vehicle, a model of the vehicle, and/or features of the vehicle. 
   
     
     
         6 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the physical item comprises a vehicle, and   the method further comprises:
 receiving, via the one or more processors and from a user device associated with the user, an indication that the user would like to virtually test drive a replacement vehicle included in the set of potential replacement items; and 
 sending, via the one or more processors, a request to a virtual environment server to provide a virtual item corresponding to the replacement vehicle within the virtual environment. 
   
     
     
         7 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein presenting the potential replacement items comprises:
 calculating, via the one or more processors, a price of items included in the set of potential replacement items based upon: (i) an insurance policy corresponding to the insurance claim, (ii) a current value of the physical item to be replaced, and/or (iii) current prices of the items of the set of potential replacement items; and   presenting, via the one or more processors, the set of potential replacement items the corresponding calculated prices to the user.   
     
     
         8 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 analyzing, via the one or more processors, an insurance policy corresponding to the insurance claim to identify a replacement budget; and   generating, via the one or more processors, the set of potential replacement items such that a total replacement cost for the set of potential replacement items is within the replacement budget.   
     
     
         9 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the determining the set of potential replacement items comprises:
 routing, via the one or more processors, the indication of the physical item to be replaced to a machine learning algorithm that is: (i) trained using historical information of physical items, and historical information of insurance customers, and (ii) configured to output suggested replacement items to include in the set of potential replacement items.   
     
     
         10 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the determining the set of potential replacement items comprises:
 determining, via the one or more processors, a type of the physical item to be replaced by analyzing imagery data corresponding to the physical item to be replaced;   routing, via the one or more processors, the determined type to a machine learning algorithm that is: (i) trained using historical information of physical items, and historical information of insurance customers, and (ii) configured to output to output suggested replacement items to determine the set of potential replacement items.   
     
     
         11 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein determining the set of potential replacement items comprises:
 receiving, via the one or more processors and from a vender server, an inventory list that includes items matching an item type associated with the physical item to be replaced; and   potential replacement items populating, via the one or more processors, the set of potential replacement items the matching items included in the inventory list.   
     
     
         12 . A computer-implemented method for assisting with replacement of a physical item, comprising:
 receiving, via one or more processors, an indication of an insurance claim, wherein the indication of the insurance claim: (i) includes an indication of a physical item to be replaced, and (ii) arises from a virtual environment;   determining, via the one or more processors, a set of potential replacement items for the physical item to be replaced;   building, via the one or more processors, virtual item models of items of the set of potential replacement items in a format operable to import virtual versions of the items of the set of potential replacement items into the virtual environment; and   sending, via the one or more processors, to a virtual environment server: (i) an instruction to present the set of potential replacement items in the virtual environment, and (ii) the virtual item models.   
     
     
         13 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 sending, via the one or more processors and to a user device, a list including items of the set of potential replacement items; and   receiving, via the one or more processors and from the user device, a selection of items from the list; and   wherein the building the virtual item models comprises building virtual item models of items selected from the list.   
     
     
         14 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 12 , wherein the physical item comprises a vehicle, and the method further comprises:
 sending, via the one or more processors and to a user device associated with a user: (i) a list including vehicles of the set of potential replacement items, and (ii) a question asking if the user would like to virtually test drive a vehicle; and   receiving, via the one or more processors and from the user device, a selection of a vehicle from the list along with an indication that the user would like to virtually test drive the vehicle; and   wherein the building the virtual item models comprises building a virtual model of the vehicle selected from the list.   
     
     
         15 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the physical item to be replaced comprises a personal article, or a vehicle. 
     
     
         16 . A computer system configured to assist with replacement of a physical item, the computer system comprising one or more processors configured to:
 receive an indication of an insurance claim, wherein the indication of the insurance claim: (i) includes an indication of a physical item to be replaced, and (ii) arises from a virtual environment;   determine a set of potential replacement items for the physical item to be replaced;   retrieve virtual data of the set of potential replacement items; and   present, in the virtual environment, and based upon the retrieved virtual data of the set of potential replacement items, the set of potential replacement items to a user.   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the physical item to be replaced comprises a furniture item, an electronic item, or a vehicle. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the physical item comprises a furniture item, and the one or more processors are configured to determine the set of potential replacement items by determining the set of potential replacement items based upon a type of the furniture item, a size of the furniture item, and/or optional feature of the furniture item. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the physical item comprises an electronic item, and the one or more processors are configured to determine the set of potential replacement items by determining the set of potential replacement items based upon a type of the electronic item, a size of the electronic item, and/or a color of the electronic item. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the physical item comprises a vehicle and the one or more processors are configured to determine the set of potential replacement items by determining the set of potential replacement items based upon a type of the vehicle, a size of the vehicle, a color of the vehicle, a year of the vehicle, a make of the vehicle, a model of the vehicle, and/or safety features of the vehicle.